A 6-month-old boy died in hospital following a crash in Waimā.
A 6-month-old boy died in hospital following a crash in Waimā.
A six-month-old baby boy was pronounced dead in hospital after the car he was in lost control and crashed in the Far North last night.
Emergency services were called to the crash on Waima Valley Rd about 6.20pm.
Northland Serious Crash Unit analyst Jeff Cramp said the baby was travelling with his parents and a male friend of theirs when their ute lost control on the gravel and rolled on the road.
Cramp said the three occupants who suffered some injuries, somehow managed to walk to the closest property near the crash site and asked for help.
Reportedly a neighbour rushed them and their unconscious baby to a hospital in Rawene – where he died a short time later.
“I know there is a lot of discussion around having potholes and bad road conditions. But it’s time we shift our focus to what’s really killing our people on the road. And it’s clearly people who are not following the road rules.”
Not slowing down, refusing to wear seatbelts, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol or even not driving to road conditions were the common causes of most road crashes, Johnston said.
People not heeding to such road rules caused 38 people to die on the roads last year, a record high in over a decade and only matched by the same in 2022.
Road Safety Trust Manager Ashley Johnston is urging motorists to slow down and drive to the conditions after the first fatality this New Year. Photo / Tania Whyte.
“We are trending in the wrong direction and it’s time people travelling on roads take more responsibility and bring such numbers down this year.”
Johnston said communities across Northland need to work together to make a difference.
“There are so many messages that many organisations put out. But I feel when your neighbours or loved ones have those conversations, the messages are more effective,” she said.
The fatality is the fifth one for Northland this holiday season and contributes to a quarter of the total holiday road toll of 19 across Aotearoa.
The official Christmas-New Year holiday road toll period started at 4pm on December 22. It finished this morning at 6am.
On December 23, a motorist died in a single-vehicle crash about 8pm in Te Ahu Ahu Rd, Northland. Then on Christmas Eve, a female died after fleeing a police checkpoint in Whangārei.
Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.
